AURORA

Chapter 17

              I slide my hands down my face as Helena and I are preparing ourselves to leave. Helena is dressed much more primitive now. She's ready to go most definitely. She's wearing black tights and a dark black vest. Her hair straight and out past her neck. She grabs hold of some low cut boots and straps them on. I pick my bag up and slide my daggers deep in my pockets. I leave the handles of them easily accessible in case of trouble. "Helena, you need some sort of..." "Weapon?" "Yes, I guess we'll have to grab a knife from one of the stores." "No need, I grabbed a mid-sized knife form Mr. Vonson. He actually offered. He was set that I have one, so I took it. I asked for an extra one for Mr. Mendeci." "Good. We're set to go now. We meet at the Tavern and head around the kingdom to start us off." We exit through the door and head downstairs.

            Mr. Mendeci is sitting at a table off to the side. Helena sits down first and greets him. "Good morning. May I ask what your first name is? Seeming as we're going on this dangerous task, it would be nice to know." "I understand. My name is Mordecai." "Very well. Cara are you ready?" "Yes, let's go." We each tell Mr. Vonson goodbye. "Ahh yes, goodbye and good luck to you all." We all get up and head out the door.

            I begin to speak as I stand in the middle of Mordecai and Helena. "We will head to the front and out of Avero. We will hook right until the kingdom is out of view. Our best bet is to keep straight until nothing is around. I imagine the land to be barren." Helena reaches in her bag and pulls out one of her knives. "Here Mordecai. This is for your protection. Better than nothing." "Thank you. I hadn't even thought of grabbing a weapon." Cara begins to speak. "We will encounter some crazy things out there. With that said, this will not be an easy task. Before I was helped by Helena, I was running from a Sabre tooth tiger. If that waterfall wasn't there, I would be dead." Helena looks shocked. "Sabre tooth tiger? You are lucky to be here. I've only heard about them in stories. I had no idea one was that close to home. There's no telling what lies ahead. Either way, we must be prepared for whatever is thrown at us."

             We make it the outskirts of the kingdom. We head straight as I urged us to do. Helena is in deep though. Mordecai is looking to the skies. I'm looking dead ahead because I know of the true horrors that lie ahead. Everything seems calm now, but when we find Amoura, things will change. They will meet Aurora. They will see true evil. They have been sheltered from the darkness that lies in these lands. Avero has blinded them and shown them only the good in this world. A world simply doesn't exist without good and evil. "It's an honor to have both of you by my side. I was going on this journey alone. Now, I'm joined by two people who have helped me so much already. I thank both of you."

              Helena addresses me first. "No thank you Cara. Ever since you showed up, I've been exposed to much more than just Avero. I'm getting to go on the opportunity of a lifetime. I thank you for allowing me to aid you." Mordecai stares at us and begins to speak. "Before this, I was nothing. I didn't really do anything. I inherited my money from my deceased parents. I appreciate this chance to get to talk to Amoura again. Thank you." We all look forward and take some moments to ourselves.

              The air is thin and clean. It's November and it's starting to get colder. Soon snow will come. We have to find Amoura before heavy snow comes. Our clothes aren't fit for extremely cool weather. At least we're all wearing long sleeves and pants. I can tell that Helena and Mordecai are scared of this trip. They stare at the ground questioning their ability to survive this quest. The key is to survive. Soon we'll have to find food, shelter, and water. That will be the true test. We will have to learn how to efficiently hunt, make a safe area, and be able to do it consistently. If Amoura is days or weeks away, there's no telling what we'll encounter. As we walk, everything around us is barren. There's no grass, just gravel. I can no longer see Avero or any signs of life.

           A steep hill lies ahead. It's so steep that it seems to stick straight up. There's hardly nothing to grip on. It blocks our view from all sides. We all come to a halt and I begin to speak. "I wonder what's on the other side. This hill took years to form judging by how high it is. We can't go around, so the only way is up." I look up at it, letting the sun beam off of my eyes. Helena stares up and puts her hands over her eyes to block out the sun. "You're right Cara. The only way is up. We could use our knives to grip the insides of the hill. It will be dangerous, but this is the only way. Once we go over this hill, there is no turning back." I decide to go first. If anyone is up there, I'm the only one who knows at least a little bit of defense. "I'll go first. One of you follow behind. Leave no gaps between us. We need to be in arms reach." I pull out my daggers and stick them inside the hill. I begin climbing slowly so I don't get ahead too quickly.

              "Cara, Mordecai and I have only one knife. How will we climb up?" "Humph. I'll go to the top and one of you take the other's knife. The person that's left at the bottom will be thrown two knives." They nod in agreement. I make my way up the hill. It's so steep, I almost considering letting go. My arms feel like they're about to fall off. The sun beams in my face, but the cool air brushes and bounces off my skin. I'm almost to the top. As I pull my left hand up to stick it into the hill, I slip. I dangle and look down. "Ahh." Mordecai shouts. "Move slower. Take your time!" I cock my hand back and pierce the hill. I move slower, but with a steady pace. Foot by foot and dagger by dagger, I make my way to the top. I pull myself over and check out the scene over the hill.

           "Whoa. That's a lot of land." I look for a bit longer and look down the hill. "Whoever's going next, make your way up." I can see Helena step forward. She pulls herself together and takes the knives. "Nice and slow Helena." She looks up at me with anxiousness. She puts the knives inside the hill and proceeds to head up. She stops. Right when I think she's about to climb down and say, "I give up," she continues coming up. She makes it to the top quicker than me. Her nervousness aided her. I let my hand out and pulls her in. "You made it Helena. We have a long way to go, but we'll make it." She looks at the scene over the hill. "Yes, I did. Wow. That's a lot of trees and a lot of ground to cover." I shout down to Mordecai. "Alright Mordecai, you ready?" He looks up with enthusiasm. "Yea, I think I got this." Helena throws her knives down to him. They disappear on the way down. I can see where they landed, because when they hit the ground, a pile of dust flew into the air.

            He picks the knives up. He steps back a few feet from the way. He looks at the hill and decides to do something that we've never tried. He goes into a run and lunges into the air. While in the air, he takes the two knives and stabs the wall. He climbs up, grunting and picking up his pace. He treks up the hill like he's done this several times. He didn't falter one time. He approaches us and jumps over. I say, "Welcome to the top of the hill." He looks up at me lying on the ground and smiles. "Thank you Cara." We all stand up straight and look at all the land that was hidden behind the hell. There are so many trees. There overgrown tress that seem to be taller than the hill itself. I can't see through them. A mist covers the whole land. A huge gust of wind flies around us. The trees sway and the mist gets thicker. I look at Helena and Mordecai. "Well our path awaits us. Prepare yourselves. I don't know what lies ahead. I do know that the danger level has just risen."

             Helena says, "I'm ready when you guys are. There's no time to ponder on this. The longer we stand, the further Amoura might be getting away." Helena head down first. The other side of the hill isn't steep. There's a slight drop off, but it's manageable. Mordecai says, "Well, if this is what I have to do to find Amoura, let's go." He flies down with anticipation. I give the land one more look and swiftly heads down the hill. The temperature drops significantly. As I breathe, the air puffs out smoke through my mouth. My skin becomes cold and lacking warmth. I look back taking in daylight like it's the last time I'll ever see it. We all head in the overgrown forest and we fade in the mist.